Tuesday, July 11, 2006

"Name collector" is an epithet thrown at those family historians more interested in the quantity than the quality of their research results. But one woman in India wears the label with pride.

As uncommon and strange as it might sound, Sujata Pandey, a resident of Jejuri, has a penchant for jotting down people’s surnames.

“She takes note of a lot of surnames appearing in Marathi newspapers,” says Pandey’s husband, Virendra. Be it festive occasions or society gatherings, there are several avenues for Pandey to register people’s surnames. “Whenever I meet people, I ask them to spell their surnames for me and record them. I’ve always followed this practice even while travelling to places like Wai and Mahabaleshwar,” enthuses Pandey. [Link]